1 82 7 . J Domest iv and 



is impossibJe. The very precarlousness 

 of his employment and his was eminently 

 so is but too apt to betray into careless. 

 ness; and a temperament that tempts a 

 man to trust to his good fortune, is not 

 likely much to mend the matter. On his 

 own shewing-, he is a domestic man, and 

 attached to his family ; and has aided his 

 father and mother in their declining- days 

 let him learn prudence, and he will not 

 yet be forsaken. The present publication 

 will do him but temporary good he has 

 given his pen too much liberty. 



As we turned over the leaves we marked 

 a few passages. They may amuse our 

 readers as 'they did ourselves. The first 

 concerns a ftte given by the Princess 

 Elizabeth on the recovery of her sister 

 Amelia from a dangerous, illness, afford- 

 ing 1 a memorable instance of the estimate 

 of literary labours formed among- the great 

 only a few years ago. The story is much 

 too long- to quote; we must be content 

 with the pith of it, though after all the 

 thing will hardly bear stripping of circum- 

 stances. While on a visit at a friend's 

 house in the country, Dibdiu received a 

 letter from Mrs. Mattocks, earnestly beg- 

 ging him to come forthwith to town, and 

 call on her in Soho Square. No time was 

 lost in posting to town, and great was 

 Dibdin's delight on being informed that 

 he had been selected by the Princess to 

 write a sort of vaudeville farce, to be 

 performed at a fete projected by her royal 

 highness. Only three principal parts were 

 required, to be acted by Mrs. Mattocks, 

 Quick, and Elliston ; Mrs. M. entreated 

 him to pay particular attention to the part 

 assigned to her, as she had need enough, 

 God knew, of every assistance a writer 

 could afford, while Quick, she said, was 

 such a favourite of his majesty, he would 

 be able to make any thing tell. <f And 

 Mr. Elliston, Madam," inquired the 

 anxious Dibdin ; " he is a gentleman I 

 know little of; in what does his forte 

 consist ?" " O, my dear Sir," replied 

 Mrs. M., " the king has seen him some- 

 where at Weymouth or Cheltenham, and 

 rather likes him so he he will do well 

 enough as - a sort of a - the gentle- 

 man of the piece." During the conference 

 came in Quick, who, upon Dibdin's taking 

 leave, insisted on seeing him down stairs, 

 and with the street door in hi hand, and 

 the richest comic expression in his eyes, 

 whispered (f take care of me, and don't 

 let that woman have all the cream." To 

 work goes Dibdin, and in a day or two 

 communicates the details of what he pro- 

 posed to do, which received the royal 

 approbation. He was urged to proceed 

 with all diligence, and, to save time, was 

 to get somebody to copy the parts. All 

 was done according to order; when, to his 

 utter confusion, he was told the remune- 

 M.M. New Series. VOL. III. No, 18. 



ration was to be throa guineas. Two 

 had been spent upon transcription, The 

 disappointed author begged now ' to de- 

 cline all remuneration, but the pleasure of 

 contributing to the amusement of the au- 

 gust party. This proposal, however, it 

 seemed, could not be accepted; and Mrs. 

 Mattocks undertook to get the matter 

 settled to his satisfaction, and screen him 

 from all offence. In a few days came FIFE 

 guineas, which his friends advised him to 

 pocket, and say no more about the matter 

 recommending, another time, a previous 

 stipulation. The advice was good. About 

 a twelvemonth afterwards, Mrs. Mattocks 

 met him in the green-room " I've got 

 you another job." Not so eager now as 

 before, Dibdin begged a few days con- 

 sideration, and then stated, that as a one- 

 act farce at Covent Garden would produce 

 fifty pounds, he hoped he was not pre- 

 suming in naming- thirty pounds as the 

 price. No answer was received : 



The reader will observe, says Dibdin^-[to re- 

 move offensive impressions we suppose] I have not 

 complained of the price (horribly vulgar word) 

 given me ; but that I was refused, by certain 

 agents, the alternative of presenting my work gra- 

 tuitously, and compelled to accept what I did. I 

 have no doubt but that a certain sum was liberally 

 assigned by her royal highness, in certain quar- 

 ters, to certain conductors of the fete on their own 

 scale, and that the less they expended, the more 

 remained for themselves. 



All fudge besides, the "no answer" set- 

 tles the fact. 



Not long before this curious affair; a 

 very popular song of Dibdin's, called the 

 " Snug little Island," was sold by "him to 

 Longmans, Cheapside, for fifteen guineas, 

 by which song the said Longmans actu- 

 ally cleared 900. What was Dibdin the 

 better for this? The publisher begged 

 him to consider as his own a piano-forte 

 he had on hire ; which was, however, sub- 

 sequently returned as the gift could not 

 be sanctioned by the assignees. So much 

 for the liberality of the trade. 



We have heard a good deal of Cum- 

 berland's jealousies. Here is another spe- 

 cimen. While at Tunbridge, Dibdin, at 

 Dowton's request, wrote a farce called the 

 Jew and the Doctor. Cumberland hear- 

 ing of this performance wished to read it, 

 to see, as he said, in what manner Dibdin 

 had trod in his mow. W 7 hen Dibdin called 

 for his MS. a few days afterwards, Cum- 

 berland returned it, regretting he had not 

 had time to read it. The Duke of Leeds 

 also requested to see the MS., and pub- 

 lished aloud his high opinion of It. On 

 hearing of this, Cumberland now more 

 at leisure begged a second loan of the 

 piece, and quickly returned it with his 

 perfect approbation only requesting Dib- 

 din to alter the sum fixed for the marriage 

 portion of the heroine, which happened 

 4 O 



